May Hill Capital LLC Acquires 7,725 Shares of Novartis AG $NVS

May Hill Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 102.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,230 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,725 shares during the period. May Hill Capital LLC’s holdings in Novartis were worth $2,100,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Saratoga Research & Investment Management bought a new stake in Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at about $205,000. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Novartis by 72.8% during the fourth quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 16,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,238,000 after purchasing an additional 6,836 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR grew its holdings in Novartis by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 6,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $890,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the period. Cauble & Harre Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Novartis during the fourth quarter valued at about $287,000. Finally, Berkeley Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Novartis by 15.3% during the fourth quarter. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $329,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Novartis Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of NVS opened at $148.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.65. Novartis AG has a 1 year low of $107.96 and a 1 year high of $170.46. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $150.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $144.91. The firm has a market cap of $282.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.46.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $1.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by ($0.12). Novartis had a net margin of 24.87% and a return on equity of 38.82%. The company had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.44 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.28 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Novartis from $143.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Novartis to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Novartis from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.20.

Novartis Company Profile

Novartis is a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Basel that researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines and related health-care products. Formed through the 1996 merger of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz, Novartis operates globally and focuses on bringing therapeutics from discovery through clinical development to commercial markets worldwide.

The company’s activities center on innovative pharmaceuticals across several therapeutic areas, including oncology, immunology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, neuroscience and ophthalmology, alongside capabilities in advanced therapies such as biologics, cell and gene therapies.